Beware of the dates they post on LSAC though. It says one of my letters was processed on 1/11, yet it didn't actually show up there until 1/16 or 1/17 - and, lo and behold, it never got sent to the school on the 15th. This is a school that only gets reports on the 1st and 15th of each month...therefore, I missed their Feb. 1 deadline. Seems like sometimes they post the date of the letter as the date that's actually on the letter from when the recommender typed it.

I *heart* the east coast, especially the mid-atlantic region and the southeast. This is, of course, all a matter of taste, and I don't know your tastes. The Baltimore area is pretty nice if you wanna get away from the mainstream urban places like DC, Philly, and NYC.

You guys need to stop freaking out. EVERYBODY finances law school through loans. Seriously, unless you're independently wealthy, you're going to borrow the money. Everybody does it. Your EFC means very little for law school. You don't need to pay anything out of pocket. You can borrow for living expenses too. It's all included. So for God's sake, calm down. (Unless of course your credit is awful - in which case, you probably are screwed. But that's probably your own fault.)

At least one of my schools told me that I should indicate on their institutional form that I will be forfeiting my income when I enroll in law school. Law schools have the power to adjust your EFC based on this information. If they don't have an institutional form, I would call them and ask how to officially give them this information.

I would caution against PSU-DSL unless you want to practice in central PA, or are living close to one of the campuses.

Like I've been saying, there's a huge difference between transient name recognition, and actual respect from lawyers/firms. PSU has a name, but do they have real lawyers in Philadephia and Pittsburgh, not many. Don't go to a school simply because you recognize their name. That's virtualy meaningless in your job search.

That being said, PSU-DSL is trying to expand their reach with the new campus at University Park. How the school does from here on out remains to be seen. They could move up, start developing an alumni network, place in Philly and Pitt, and become a good law school. But they're just beginning. The law school itself is very young, and that sort of campaign takes a lot of time. I doubt anyone who goes there now will see the fruits of that. It's a risk. If I were you, I would stick with areas where I want to practice.